Making Hope Happen

 

Genesis 41:1-23

Joseph was imprisoned

Joseph’s master, Potiphar took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

So, the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. 

Not long after that, he met two close attendants of Pharaoh, the cupbearer and the baker. The cupbearer was responsible for the drink of Pharaoh by testing it before he passed it to Pharaoh, and it helped to prevent Pharaoh from any poisoning. The baker was responsible for baking biscuits. Both of them were thrown into prison because they had offended Pharaoh, their master.

Joseph and the two of them were prisoners, but they had different experiences. The cupbearer and the baker committed wrongs and they offended Pharoah their master, but Joseph did not as he was unwilling to sin against God and his master (39:9).

One night, both the cupbearer and the baker had a dream respectively, and they were perplexed after they got up from their dreams. They were in prison then and were troubled because it would be hard for them to find a specialist to help them interpret their dreams, and hence they looked sad.

Seeing their condition, Joseph took the initiative to help them interpret dreams. After that, both of their dreams came true according to Joseph’s interpretations. 

From a day dreamer (37:19), Joseph became the interpreter of dreams, for God had given him the gift of interpretation. This change indicated that Joseph’s wisdom and his life experience made a big progress again. Now he became a competent official in the palace.

Joseph, during his childhood time, had a dream that he would become the head over his brothers and the leader of his family. It is expected that since Joseph could accurately interpret dreams for others and their dreams were fulfilled exactly, his own dreams would definitely be fulfilled too. “Dream” is a motif in Joseph’s narrative.

The cupbearer was the official of Pharaoh and he was very influential. Therefore, Joseph asked him to tell Pharaoh that he was jailed wrongly, so that he could be released from the prison. The cupbearer was indeed taken out from the prison and was further restored to his position as what Joseph had told him, but unfortunately, he had Joseph forgotten, and did not clear Joseph’s name before Pharaoh (v20-23).

Joseph was first sold away by his brothers in the Land of Canaan, and later he was framed by the wife of his master and ended up in prison, where he met the cupbearer. He went through many ups and downs, and now he was forgotten by the cupbearer again.

His hope was shattered, and how could God make a way out for him to have a comeback?

Helping Each Other When Calamities Strike, instead of Gloating over others’ Mishap

Joseph showed his concern for others in prison, and he offered to help them too. Though he faced his own mishap, and did not know how long his imprisonment would be, he still chose to go through thick and thin with them and help them in times of need.

Joseph was even very observant of others’ facial expression, for he asked the cupbearer and the baker, “Why do you look so sadly today?” (v7) He also spoke honestly and told the cupbearer and the baker the actual situations of their future encounters.

Joseph explained to the cupbearer that Pharaoh would release him three days later, and he would be restored to his position. But as for the baker, he would be executed by Pharaoh three days later.

Then Joseph asked that the cupbearer to speak for him before Pharaoh so that he could be reinstated. Joseph’s request showed that he believed strongly that what he had interpreted concerning the dream of the cupbearer would be fulfilled.

It was indeed a very hard to come by thing for Joseph to keep a positive attitude and seek opportunities to help others when he was wrongly framed and ended up unjustly imprisoned.

On the contrary, people by nature tend to become self-centered, self-pitied and think that they are more miserable than any others when they are in their pains, be it persecution, poverty or victimization.

They might shout aloud, “How could I afford to care for others? The whole world should pay attention and care for me instead.” Some will even become cynical and bitter. They will gloat over others’ sufferings and pains and imagine that the misfortunes of others are falling on themselves.

Are you going through a depression now? Joseph reminded us to keep a positive and optimistic attitude. Though you might be trapped, and are not even able to protect yourself, you must choose to go through thick and thin with the needy around you, by caring and helping them. Or you could continue to support ministries by serving and giving financially in the church in a continual manner.

People who do such will find their lives happy and meaningful even if they are walking through the valley of death. Moreover, by taking these acts of faith, they are planting a seed which could help them to come out of their difficulties in the very near future!

Making Hope Happen in Adversities

We see that though Joseph was in prison, he did not allow “prison” to enter his heart. He would not allow his misfortune to form a chain over him. Today, how could we triumph over pains and be set free from self-pity and many “prisons, lockdown” imposed on us?

The answer is to learn the secret of Joseph, that he had steadfast faith in God even in prison. He had faith in God in the midst of his sufferings. Though he never went through any special training for dream interpretation, he said confidently, “Do not interpretation belong to God?”

These words that came forth from Joseph’s mouth were praiseworthy. Joseph was sold out and became prisoner by wrong accusation, and generally it would be greatly possible that people would abandon God and refuse to believe in Him when they are in his situation. They would grumble and say, “If God is real, why don’t He come and help me?”

However, Joseph put his trust in God. Though he was in the deep valley of his life, his faith was actually making hope happen!

Joseph’s faith in God was not affected by changes in his circumstances. He was very staunched in his faith and his faith went beyond his conditions. He believed that God would continue to be with him wherever he would be, and he trusted God in everything. His action indeed was creating hope for himself.

From the world history and the experiences of many victims turned victors, we are told that “creating hope” is the requirement for one to survive and have breakthroughs in his difficulties. When one lives as if he is without hope, he will not be able to brace himself up, and he will not be able to recover after he falls, and will be devoured by his suffering!

Faith in God does bring us hope. Those who have hope will have their lives full of positiveness and their minds broadened.

Joseph worked diligently and cared for others in the prison, and he helped solve the problems for the cupbearer and the baker, and it was an act of making hope happen.

No matter what circumstance you are in, and though you might have many difficulties, you must believe God’s providence. Let’s start taking action, do something, not wait for others to give us hope but create our very own hope for ourselves.

People will forget you but God will remember you forever

We should demonstrate a very strong faith that will not be affected by our situations. A faith that trust God continually and give birth to hope. However, this faith is not something unreasonable or subjective, it is built upon the fact that man will forget us and remember us not, but God will not!

Pharaoh chose to forget the wrong the cupbearer did to him and showed him favor, but the cupbearer forgot the good deed Joseph had done for him, and he did not return his kindness by doing what Joseph asked of him.

One day, after two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream and in the morning his mind was trouble, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharoah told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my short comings.” He then told Pharaoh about Joseph who had interpreted his dream when they met in the prison. So, Pharaoh sent for Joseph.  Joseph was quickly brought before Pharaoh. He eventually  interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams.

Who then caused Pharaoh to dream and made all these things happen? Of course, God was the one who worked silently behind the scene for He never forgot about Joseph.  God did not forget about Joseph, and he called Joseph out from prison to successfully interpret dreams for Pharaoh. Not only that, Joseph was promoted to become the Prime Minister of Egypt.

Hence, God wanted to test Joseph’s faith and patience by not releasing him for an extended time. In the same way, we can be sure that God always remember us, and He will never forget about us. He will take care of us and keep watch over us in accordance to his appointed times and means, so that one day we can finally be released from our difficulties.

From Joseph’s acts of faith which make hope happen, we are now moving to God’s faithfulness. God is faithful and He never changes. Men tend to change and do not keep their promises, and they will forget us. But God will remember us forever.

God’s faithfulness is the foundation of our faith and hope. It is because God is faithful that our faith and hope will not be in vain. Those who are without this belief will be devoured and melted by their difficulties, and they also could become cynical and create more harm for others.

Nevertheless, we have a true and living, and faithful God, and hence we are able to seek God and receive our strength to handle any situation. One day, we shall overcome all these sufferings. We shall be promoted. Hence, faith is not purely psychological game—being positive, but it builds upon the objective fact that there is a loving God who keeps watch over His people.

Today, are you losing all your fighting spirit because of your current failures and constraints of bad environment? Are you frustrated and discouraged because you have been forgotten by someone you trust and love the most? Are you feeling desperate after many struggles?

You have to remind yourselves always that in fact there is a God who is faithful, and He is in control of the situation and He reigns over your circumstances. Moreover, He remembers you all the times and He never forget you. But, have you forgotten him?